Spirit: Behind the Screen

How do you find a minute but costly void in wafer bonding when it may be less than 0.1 micron in size? Sonix has spent the past 3 decades developing ultrasonic testing equipment for nondestructive testing to achieve this level of inspection. Sonix acoustic imaging can analyze products to avoid failures with increasing efficiency and at smaller microscopic resolutions.

 

Marti talks with sales and applications engineering lead Shwetha Jakkidi about how Sonix is advancing in acoustic imaging technology and applications.

 

Jump to these times to hear Shwetha and Marti talk about . . .

(3:45) What is acoustic imaging?

(4:26) Acoustic image quality and advancements

(7:35) Applications of acoustic imaging

(9:52) Cost of error and screening for Aerospace and Defense

(14:52) Where is Sonix headed in 2021?

 

Shwetha Jakkidi holds a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering with over 15 years of experience. She is currently the sales and applications engineering leader for the Americas and Europe for Sonix.

 

Sonix, a business unit of Tektronix, is a leading producer of acoustic scanning microscopes. Spirit has partnered with Sonix as a representative for capital equipment sales to our customers in aerospace and defense. To find out how you can buy cutting-edge Sonix equipment, visit spiritelectronics.com/capital-equipment-sales/sonix-test-equipment/.

Spirit's Quality Manager Estefania Altamirano recently completed Lead Auditor Certification for AS9100. As quality manager, she oversees many of Spirit's compliance programs, as well as functions like our business procedures, corrective action and continual improvement, and internal audit program.

 

Quality Analyst by day, Podcast editor by night Alyssa Marquez interviews Estefania about the training she completed and what her new skills mean for our customers and suppliers.

 

Spirit Electronics is certified to AS9100 and ISO9001 quality management standards, meeting aerospace and defense customer requirements. To learn more about our certifications and programs, visit spiritelectronics.com/about-us/quality.

EPC Space is a joint venture company between EPC Corp and VPT Inc. focused on providing Gallium Nitride (GaN) power devices for space applications.

 

In this episode, EPC Space CEO Bel Lazar talks with Marti about the company's product lines and applications, as well as the ability of GaN devices to withstand radiation and harsh environmental conditions in space.

 

Can your device make a satellite go "chh chh"?

 

Jump to these times to hear about

(1:28) The story behind the move from silicon to GaN

(2:57) The GaN market size

(5:13) Space applications and product portfolio

(7:42) Radiation tolerance in space

(10:10) Reliability and testing to failure

(11:30) EPC Space design support

 

Bel Lazar currently serves as the CEO of EPC Space. He has over 30 years of experience in semiconductor, aerospace, and defense fields.

 

Spirit Electronics is an authorized distributor for EPC Space products. Visit spiritelectronics.com for a quote on EPC's GaN devices.

How do you take the lead in a competitive market? Tracey Latham talks with Marti about what gives her company, Latham Industries, their competitive edge in contract manufacturing. Catch a preview of Spirit's new partnership with Latham Industries.

 

You can jump to these timestamps to hear about:

(1:10) Quality production and equipment

(4:13) Latham Industries team and experience

(6:00) Manufacturing tech in Arizona and the US

(7:40) Future for Latham Industries and Spirit Electronics

 

Latham Industries is an electronics contract manufacturer run by CEO and founder Tracey Latham, who has over 25 years of experience in manufacturing. Latham Industries offers printed circuit board assembly for the aerospace industry, as well as medical, industrial, communications, and security customers.

 

Spirit is partnering with our Phoenix, AZ neighbor Latham Industries to design a robotic solder exchange process. Stay tuned for more info from Spirit on our new value add services coming in 2021 at spiritelectronics.com.

What's new for memory applications and trends in 2021? Micron memory products from DRAM to SSDs have a legacy of market leadership, but you need Micron's forward-thinking product quality and development to stay ahead of the explosive growth of data and the Internet of Things (IoT).

 

Marti talks with David Henderson and Scott Schaefer at Micron about the new market demands they see in industrial applications, including in aerospace and defense, and how Micron's products are innovating for new applications.

 

Tune in to a topic

(1:58) Changes in memory

(5:10) Automotive and industrial

(7:10) Military and aerospace applications

(10:10) Types of memory

(11:10) Data in aerospace and defense

(15:10) Pandemic acceleration

(17:25) Solid state drives (SSDs)

 

Want to know more about how Spirit screens Micron products to meet requirements for military and aerospace customers? Episode 2 talks about screening Micron's DDR4.

 

David Henderson is the Director of Industrial and Consumer Segment Marketing and Scott Schaefer is a Senior Member of Technical Staff for DRAM Architecture at Micron, a leading producer in memory products and data storage. 

 

Spirit is an authorized distributor for Micron with special focus on product screening and qualification for aerospace and defense. You can contact our team at Spirit Electronics for a quote on Micron memory products.

Alex Lidow discusses EPC's test-to-failure method in improving gallium nitride (GaN) devices.

 

According to Alex, testing to failure has allowed EPC to tease out the exact stressors that cause failure and improve EPC's GaN devices 10-100 times the reliability of commercial devices, and even 100 times reliability in space applications.

 

Alex and Marti discuss

(1:30) Why test to fail

(4:14) Learning from failure data and stressors

(11:38) Safe Operating Area

(14:30) Mechanical stressors

(17:45) EPC Space

 

EPC has recently published their Phase 12 Reliability Report.

 

EPC (Efficient Power Conversion Co.) is the leading provider of GaN-based power management technology, and Alex Lidow is the company's CEO and cofounder. Spirit is an authorized distributor of EPC products in the aerospace and defense market. Visit spiritelectronics.com for a quote on EPC's GaN devices.

This episode is truly "behind the screen" with Spirit. Marti shares some of our wins and lessons learned in 2020 as well as a preview for our facility expansion, test services coming soon, hiring openings, and what our customers can expect in 2021.

 

Want to jump to a topic?

2:15 Building Expansion

3:15 Lessons Learned

7:30 Team Growth and Hiring

11:00 New Testing Services Coming in 2021

15:20 Test Equipment Distribution

17:15 Micron and the DDR4

19:50 EPC Space

21:20 Cybersecurity

23:50 ERP System

25:15 What can our customers expect?

 

In the win column, Spirit added new product lines in 2020 with Micron and EPC Space. You can hear Marti's chat with Zef Malik about the Micron DDR4 in Episode 2.

 

If you're excited about our growth and want to join our team or know someone ready to "hold their own umbrella" and dive in, you can apply for our open positions at spiritelectronics.com/careers.

Spirit Gives Foundation is a 501C3 charitable foundation created by Spirit Electronics in 2020. As a veteran-owned, woman-owned small business, Spirit wants to give back to our veterans and military families. During the holidays, Spirit Gives sponsored 5 military families who have lost a loved one in military service through Arizona Survivor Outreach Services.

 

This episode is a message of thanks from Marti for the support from our community and our team for Spirit Gives in 2020. You can find out more about Spirit Gives at spiritgives.org. We hope you had a happy holiday season and send you our best wishes for 2021!

As a value-add distributor, Spirit supports a dynamic supply chain between the manufacturer and our customer. Zef describes how the manufacturer's goal is to build and design quality into their product, while the customer may have more demanding specs and tests to meet for military verification.

Our role as a distributor in product screening is to bridge that gap between manufacturer and customer. But it's not just making sure that the tests are run to the standard. Zef and Marti discuss how adding value includes the relationship and process knowledge we share with the manufacturer and understanding the performance needs of the customer.

Zef explains the value in delivering a customer all the product verification controls they're looking for with a big-picture understanding of inventory management, time and cost savings, and predictability. Marti wraps up the chat by explaining that this global view and Spirit's ownership of product warranty is what we call "Owning the Qual."

Interested in working with a distributor who can be the technical expert for your product qual? Get in touch with our team at spiritelectronics.com.

Bio: Zef Malik is an industry veteran with more than 40 years of semiconductor experience. He was a founder of ICE/IQL Labs and Silicon Turnkey Solutions (STS). He remains a respected leader in the high reliability market. Zef is Spirit's VP of Strategic Business Development and also serves as the General Manager, Military Business Units, at iTest Inc.

In Part 1, Marti and Zef talked about the DDR4 and the market's advancement toward the DDR5. But as memory and chips are making quantum leaps in innovation, the equipment used to screen and test these products also has to keep up. Zef dives into the challenge of staying current with rapidly evolving technology.

 

While buying the latest and greatest cutting-edge test equipment is important, Marti points out how important it is for a test engineer to have skill and experience. High-performance equipment needs a high-performance operator. Zef wraps up by explaining how a successful test program also uses a team approach by working with the design engineer to understand and accurately test a product.

 

If you want to keep up, you need the right tools for the job. Spirit is adding new testing equipment to offer more value-added services and deliver qualified parts ready for you to use. You can find out more about our test offerings at spiritelectronics.com.

 

Bio: Zef Malik is an industry veteran with more than 40 years of semiconductor experience. He was a founder of ICE/IQL Labs and Silicon Turnkey Solutions (STS). He remains a respected leader in the high reliability market. Zef is Spirit's VP of Strategic Business Development and also serves as the General Manager, Military Business Units, at iTest Inc.